♪ >> live from berlin, this is the "journal" on dw behalf. standing by its decision to force a russian passenger plane to land, saying the plane was carrying weapons to syria. >> the nobel prize for literature goes to a chinese writer. >> the first international day of the girl. we will look at how young girls are fighting for their rights.

syria's prime minister is defending his country's interception of a russian passenger plane headed for syria. >> turkey says the plane was carrying weapons and munitions and military supplies for the syrian army. >> syria has condemned the act as air piracy. russia accused turkey of endangering the lives of the passengers on the plane. >> the story has been dominated newspaper headlines in turkey. ankara says it had information the aircraft was carrying military equipment and that it had no alternative but to force the plane to land. the incident has further increased tensions between damascus and ankara, but the turkish prime minister is unapologetic, saying if the plan -- the plane had not been intercepted, the cargo would have reached syria's defense ministry. moscow has accused turkey of endangering the lives of the russian citizens who were passengers on the plane.

syria has also condemned turkey's actions. >> what happened could be described as piracy. turkish air piracy against a civilian syrian plane on a regular flight from moscow to damascus. >> these suspicious cargo was confiscated. after several hours, the plane was allowed to finish its journey to damascus. ankara has now told turkish airlines not to fly planes through syrian airspace, saying it is too dangerous. >> for more on this, we go live to thomas on the line for us from istanbul. put this incident into perspective for us. what does it mean for to keep's role in the syrian conflict now -- turkey's role in the syrian conflict? >> turkey is getting ever deeper into the syrian conflict. we have the first incident on turkish soil where turkey took action against another state.

there was a similar case last year when they stopped an iranian plane on its way to syria. this time, russia is involved. the turkish officials with whom i've been speaking are very eager to play this down, to say that maybe the russians did not know what was on the plane. they will work it out with the russians, so they are very easy not to cause another crisis. >> we understand there is a meeting scheduled for december 3 between the leaders. what do you think this incident will do to relations between russia and turkey? >> i think there will be a crisis, at least in the short term, but i think both sides are interested in good relations. turkey needs russia because it depends on russian gas for its energy supply.

russia -- for russia, turkey is very important, so both sides will be trying to temper this down a little bit. the fact that putin is coming in december -- that was decided even before this latest crisis hit, so both sides are trying not to derail their own relations. >> what about relations between turkey and syria with this? >> they are so bad now that one wonders what could happen next. one neighbor accuses another of air piracy. we have heard that before. there is a constant danger of further escalation along the border. turkey has had a lot of troops at the border, and the military has threatened strong retaliation against syria. this is a tinderbox. the whole area could go up in

smoke if somebody makes a wrong move. >> thomas, as always, thank you very much. >> the 2012 nobel prize for literature has been awarded to chinese writer mo yan. >> his writing has been compared to frank kafka. >> stepping forward to announce the first chinese national to win the prestigious prize. >> the nobel prize in literature is awarded to the chinese writer mo yan. >> the 57-year-old author was born in northeast china. the farming life of his childhood is a recurring theme.

he shot to international prominence with his 1987 novella, which was later made into an award-winning film. mo yan's nobel prize was applauded at the frankfurt book fair where his publisher was presenting his latest book. >> his language and knowledge of history are formidable. this is a book that demands an incredible amount of patience, but it is also a book that teaches us a law -- a lot. it forces us to look at china in a different way. >> mo yan has been criticized for being too close to the chinese communist party. more discussion is sure to follow. >> that is the purpose of the nobel prize. whether you agree with the nobel committee or not, the prize is guaranteed to raise awareness of the author.

>> up to now, his books have not found a large audience in germany, but in frankfurt, that already looks certain to change. >> our cultural affairs correspondent has been following the announcement from the frankfurt book fair, and i asked by the swedish academy decided to honor mo yan. >> the obvious question is whether the price comes with a political message from sweden to beijing. it is difficult to answer that. it is a difficult question because mo yan is certainly not a dissident like a man who get the peace prize a couple of years ago. he is even a member of the communist party of china and has been that for many years, but he is not a party soldier at all. he has even been banned at times. some of his books were not

available in china. difficult position for him. he tries to find the fragile balance between the constraints of censorship on the one hand side and of that wish of describing social injustice and of advocating freedom on the other hand side, and he has actually managed to find that balance. that is one of his great achievements, i think. >> we move on to business now. >> exactly. the german finance minister has spoken out against the financial demands that are being put on greece. >> with -- the international monetary fund has called for courageous and cooperative action on tackling the debt crisis and global slowdown. lagarde says government can do

more harm than good by cutting too far too fast. >> struggling eurozone countries should be granted more time to fix their fiscal problems according to the international monetary fund chief, christine lagarde. she said with many countries introducing drastic austerity programs at the same time, it is important to slow budget cuts, particularly in greece. >> i have said repeatedly that an additional two years was necessary for the country to actually face the fiscal consolidation program that is considered. >> the german finance minister is also in tokyo. he repeated his position that greece must stick to the cost- saving measures and timetables agreed with its international lenders. >> i think it is better for each country to try to solve its own problems and keep promises already made. if they cannot keep those promises, they must expect to be criticized for it.

>> it is still not certain whether greece will qualify for its next installment of bailout funds. without the 31.5 billion euros in loans, they could be forced out of the euro. damage germany's leading economic institutes have published their biannual report. not surprising that the euro- crisis is one of the main focus points. the think tank's say greece will not be able to free itself of its massive debt burden unless its creditors take another hair cut. the institute ones -- the institutes warned the crisis is also slowing german growth. they say it will only reach 0.8% for the current year, down from the 2% growth they were predicting for 2012 in their spring report. >> from greece to spain, the ratings agency standard and poor's has lowered spans credit rating it a real notches. it is now just above junk status. >> there is increasing risk to

spain posted public finances as well as growing tension between federal and regional governments -- increasing risk to spain's public finances. >> another blow for the eurozone's fourth largest economy. spain's credit rating has slumped to bbb-, one notch above junk status. the outlook remains negative. stated and poor's cited the lingering recession and high unemployment -- standard and poor's cited the lingering recession and high unemployment. >> we are adhering to our timetable and meeting our deficit targets. we will not change our policies or our targets. >> spain rejects imf's suggestions that it needs more time to stabilize its economy. some analysts say the delay in asking for aid is worrying markets.

member the pressure to ask for a bailout is making the country suffered. nobody wants that. not germany, nor spain. that alone could put us closer to a bailout. >> the spanish government says it will consider applying for aid once it has explored all options and conditions. >> despite the bad economic news in europe, germany's traders were in an optimistic mood. we have this report from the frankfurt stock exchange. >> germany is getting prepared for economic weakness. in other places of the world, signs of recovery are coming up. better than expected economic data from the united states pushed stock prices of words here in frankfurt. also bit unexpected were quarterly earnings reports, the ones from walmart for example. shares of siemens made an exception, though. they were among the losers on

this thursday. siemens says its ceo announced job cuts and cost cuts. profit targets which they had set might not be met within the timeframe that siemens had imagined. >> let's take a quick look at the numbers now in frankfurt. the dax ended the day up by more than 1%. europe -- euro stoxx 50 up by 1.25%. the dow jones almost flat. the euro trading for $1.2929. is there such a thing as clean and affordable energy? >> good question. germany's environment minister believe so, but he says the country has to completely rethink the way it subsidizes renewals. >> with elections due next year, the rising cost of electricity has become an issue.

environment minister is calling for a government overhaul of renewable energy. he says current policy favors quantity, not quality. >> we need the appropriate instruments to ensure that the expansion of renewable energy takes place in a steady and predictable fashion, and we want to make renewals competitive on the energy market as soon as possible -- we want to make renewables competitive on the energy market as soon as possible. >> he is also calling on a time line on phasing out government subsidies, and he wants to regulate the pace of the grid, but in germany's greens say the cost of switching to renewable resources are being unfairly distributed. >> stay with us. when we come back, the international community marking the very first girls' state. we will see how schoolgirls in pakistan are showing their support for the 14-year-old

activist shot by the taliban. -- marking the very first girl'' day. >> we will be right back. don't go away.

>> welcome back, everybody. thursday marks the first-ever international day of the girl. >> the united nations designated the day to stress the importance of in powering girls and ensuring their rights. girl's face all kinds of violence, discrimination, and abuse in the world. >> like the young activist from pakistan who is fighting right now for her life. >> the 14-year-old was shot in her head and neck on her way home from school. doctors had to operate on her for hours. for years, she had been a thorn in the side of the pakistani taliban. she defied them by campaigning

for better education for girls and openly criticized the extremists. where she lives, girls were long forbidden from going to school. islamic militants battled the government for control over the region for years. many admire how malala spoke out against talibani rule. >> we pray for her and that others can embrace her views. >> women's protests have been gaining momentum in morocco as well. the fate of a teenage girl has galvanized support for an end to forced marriage. the girl was 15 when she was raped by a man 10 years her senior, so her family could save face, they marry her off to the rapist. she later killed herself with rat poison. >> he had to marry her. people were talking badly about my daughter. she lost her honor.

no one would have taken her. >> moroccan law allows a rapist to avoid jail if he marries his victim. for the man, it is a way out. for her, it was a death sentence. >> to talk more about this, i am joined by the head of planned international germany, one of the world's oldest children's development organizations. thanks for joining us. the numbers are really disturbing when you look at the plight of girls in the world right now. one in three girls, for example, is denied an education. why are things as bad as they are in the year 2012? >> well, yes. hello, good evening. this is a horrifying story which we follow up in pakistan. i think it makes very clear how much girls have to fight for their basic right.

often in the poorest countries of the world, those traditions are the barriers for the girls to be educated. we know that 75 mill girls are not educated in the world. this is a huge number. today, we launched at the -- we launched a campaign, at the heart of which is education for girls. >> also here in the developed world -- there is the story about the australian prime minister who gave a blistering speech in parliament this week attacking her political opponent for misogyny and sexism. we have this attitude even here in the developed world that women, that girls are still second class, do we not? >> yes, we have, and this shows very much how still girls have to fight and how important this

day of the girls is, which has been launched by the united nations. this would be the day where we point out those issues and where we make the issues of the girls visible. >> we will have to wrap it up there. as always, thank you for taking the time to talk with us. >> thank you. >> a cheat and a bully. a damning report released on cycling's lance armstrong. >> first, some other stories making the headlines. the german finance minister is having talks with his chinese counterpart. he visited china to mark 40 years of diplomatic ties with beijing. the two ministers said they wanted to increase bilateral cooperation. >> a court case against dutch oil giant shell has opened in the hague. four nigerian farmers have

accused the company of polluting the land and water ways around their home in the niger delta. they say shelf failed to maintain pipelines or clean up the leaks. -- they say shell failed to maintain pipelines a clean up the leaks. shell says the leaks were caused by sabotage. >> a short time after prime minister benjamin netanyahu accused hezbollah of operating the throne, the drone was shot down. hezbollah said it passed over several important operations before being destroyed. >> cycling legend lance armstrong has been accused of operating the most sophisticated doping operation in sporting history. >> united states anti-doping agency has sent the findings of his investigation to the international cycling union. >> the court report claims that armstrong doped, of course, and bullied his teammates to do the same. >> lance armstrong has never failed a doping test, but the u.s. anti-doping agency says it

has other evidence he used banned substances, including epo, cortisone, and testosterone. the agency imposed a lifetime ban on the athlete in august and stripped him of his titles, saying 26 witnesses backed up their claims, including 11 of armstrong's former teammates. the agency also says armstrong conspired with managers to supply fellow team members. it has compiled a detailed report including bank statements and e-mails and sent it to the international cycling union. the body has criticized the u.s. agency's rulings on armstrong and challenged it to justify its ban. the union has three weeks in which to appeal the agency's ruling. if it decides not to, armstrong will permanently lose his seven toward affronts titles -- seven tour de france titles. >> going from lance armstrong to

a very special anniversary -- thursday marked the 50th anniversary of european sovereign observatory, europe's leading organization for astronomical research. >> the eso currently has three observatories in chile. the research planets which orbit distant stars. >> is earth the only place where life could exist, or might there be other forms of life out there somewhere else in the universe? the search for planets that orbit distant stars is now a hot field of research. astronomers working at the european southern observatory have made important advances in the field. one of those researchers seeking of distant planets has worked at the eso for nine years. researchers there are scanning the universe for signs of alien

life. >> it is an age-old question -- whether life is unique to earth. i would certainly like to know. and the search for life outside earth will tell us a huge amount about the nature of life. >> the observatory's telescopes are all in the southern hemisphere in chile. this one is the most successful plan at hunter in the world -- planet hunter in the world. it has detected 150 planets outside our solar system. the telescope found this rocky planets, about four times the mass of our earth. it might contain water in liquid form, the most important precondition for life. the telescope suggests that planets with water might not be all that rare. there could be several billion of them in the milky way.

for a long time, astronomers could not see these planets directly. it was only possible to identify them by the effect they had on the light from the stars, but in 2004, there was a breakthrough -- the first photograph. the red dot is a planet that orbits a star. the picture was taken by another telescope in chile. they use it to research the first iraqi exit planet that was discovered and were even able to analyze its atmosphere -- the first rocky exoplanet. >> we know the emergence of life completely changed the atmosphere of earth, so you have to assume similar processes take place on other planets. >> next year, another european telescope in chile will be complete. astronomers want to use it to

look for the building blocks of life across the universe. are there amino acids out there? molecules also found in the human body. the telescope looks at the cosmic clouds and scours them for complex molecules that are necessary for the creation of life. in one young star, the telescope has already found a sugar molecule similar to what we drink in our coffee. in germany, plans are already being made for another new super telescope. it should be put to use in chile in the coming decade. some of the first components are already being tested here. >> my guess is that within 20 years, we will know the answer to where there are other planets near us in the milky way that also have life on them. >> this is what the new super

telescope is supposed to look like. astronomers hope it's 40-meter- long mirrors will help them discover planets similar to earth and to look in their atmospheres for signs of life. >> wow, i know a lot of people who would like 40-meter-long mirrors. >> i hope they see the day when they find the signs of life. >> i hope so, too. i just hope when they come to visit, they are nice. >> thanks for watching. do not go away. there's much more to come. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--